I realize it's very good of you to come here before the committee, and I wish there were more exchanges so we could go to the north. I hope I'll be able to travel in the north in the next couple of years and visit you in your own communities.

Mr. Kusugak, I have a question about funding for something called the Mine Training Society, a partnership with first nations. Is the funding still in place for that program? Could you speak to that?

I also have some questions about the royalty regime and devolution in your territory. Considering that the current negotiations between the Government of Canada and Nunavut over control of natural resource revenues....

Do you find it appropriate that Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada and the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency aren't analyzing the potential effects of devolution of northern communities for self-determination, self-sufficiency, and control over your resources? Instead, devolution is being studied as a financial issue by the Government of Canada within the Department of Finance.

The territory of Nunavut was created so that the people of Nunavut could become independent and not be so dependent on the rest of Canada. Just for everybody's information, Inuit do pay taxes. We're contributing Canadians. This way, we can contribute towards everybody else, but also, the royalties and things of that sort can help the Nunavut territory. I think it's really a matter of pride. You want to be able to look after your own people. You want to be able to provide for your families—not just for you but for everybody else after you—and that's the whole point of devolution, I believe.